Cancer Testimony - Shock

Immediately our eyes filled with tears as we held each other. I will never forget that feeling of dread that came over me when she said the word ‘cancer’. After explaining briefly that the cancer was in Mike’s lymph nodes, she left the room to give us a few minutes to ourselves. We just sat there, emotional and stunned. Finally, we managed to make 2 phone calls, to each of our moms. We told them that the news we had received was not good and that we would explain more later. We asked them to please pray.

When Dr. Hesom returned to the room, she began going through the steps that would have to happen next. During the next few hours we met with several other physicians. First, we were told that they wanted to do a biopsy of one of the nodes in his neck to determine if in fact this was cancer and what type. That surgery would take place the next day. We met with the surgeon, Dr. Jacob, to discuss those details. Then we met with Dr. Klassen, who would be the anaesthetist for the surgery. He was pretty optimistic about the diagnosis and informed us that Mario Lemieux had beat lymphoma. We also met with Dr. Woelk, the physician dealing with cancer patients at Boundary Trails.

Those hours in the clinic were filled with information overload and resulted in many more questions than answers. Dr. Hesom encouraged us to keep a journal of questions that would come up once we had processed some of the information. That was great advice, because when we got home, our minds were working overtime.

We picked up our daughters from my parents’ place. Then we broke the news to them. “They are pretty sure that Mike has cancer.” Of course, they were just as shocked as we were. Then you go through the list of other loved ones to relay the news. You know, the same people that you call first when you’ve had a baby. Only this wasn’t a phone call of celebration. They were very difficult calls to make. And because this diagnosis came relatively quickly, people asked, “How long have you known something was wrong? How come you only told us now?” The truth was that we only found out now. It really was a whirlwind.

The following day Mike was scheduled to have a biopsy done. He came in to the hospital early in the morning. They removed a lymph node from his collar bone area. Dr. Jacob was kind enough to consider the scar, and made the incision low enough that it would be hidden by Mike’s shirts. He came home stapled, bandaged, and exhausted. He continued working for the month of April, and waited for the final results.

We spent the next several days in shock, really. It took me a long time to actually speak the word “cancer”. I would talk about Mike being ill, or our “situation”, but I just couldn’t say the word. Mike took even longer than I did to accept the facts. And because this type of lymphoma isn’t hereditary or caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, he found it even harder to accept. He needed something or someone to blame, and there was nothing.